In computer graphics, three-dimensional modeling (3D) involves generation of a representation of a 3D surface of an object. The representation can be referred to as a 3D object data model, and can be rendered or displayed as a two-dimensional image via 3D rendering or displayed as a three-dimensional image. 3D object data models represent a 3D object using a collection of points in 3D space, connected by various geometric entities such as triangles, lines, curved surfaces, etc. Various techniques exist for generating 3D object data models utilizing point clouds and geometric shapes, for examples. The 3D object data model can have one or more surfaces, and each surface can have surface characteristics, such as colors, lines, object depictions, text, and other characteristics.
Being a collection of data, 3D models can be created by hand, algorithmically, or objects can be scanned, for example. As an example, an artist can manually generate a 3D image of an object that can be used as the 3D model. As another example, a given object can be scanned from a number of different angles, and the scanned images can be combined to generate the 3D image of the object. As still another example, an image of an object can be used to generate a point cloud that can be algorithmically processed to generate the 3D image.
3D object data models can include solid models that define a volume of the object, or can include shell or boundary models that represent a surface (e.g. the boundary) of the object. Because an appearance of an object depends largely on an exterior of the object, boundary representations are common in computer graphics.
3D models are used in a wide variety of fields, and can be displayed using a number of different types of interfaces. Example interfaces can provide functionality to enable interaction between a user and the 3D models.